Category Archives: Wheelies

Comments Off on If it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough power yet – The quest for speed.

This year we’ve had the pleasure of following one of our youngest members on his crusade to build a winning 300bhp turbo wheelie bike based on a GSXR1100 Slingshot from the 1990’s. We all watched in amazement as the master plan took shape and we rode the roller coaster with him throughout the year.His determination and focus was such that it soon became clear he was either going to break a record, break his engine or break himself.

Fortunately he managed the first 2 and not the 3rd. Here’s Kev Kearsley’s round up of his 2016 campaign. He went into this year as the Kid Kearsley but nobody can deny that he came out the the other side Da Man!

The Quest for Speed

Kev Kearsley

Ever wake up and think I’m going to do 200mph today? Tuesday was one of those days.

The Top Speed Tuesday put on by Straightliners at Elvington marked the last event of the year for myself, and what a year.

With numerous top speed days for tuning the bike for the Wheelie Comp, seeing a failed 194mph kilometre wheelie for dropping it a few metres short of the required distance.

A trip to Pendine sands in South Wales where I set two land speed records reaching 174mph on sand.

Hundreds of miles on the road two up

A track day at Oulton Park in the soaking wet, 300bhp on summer race tyres in the wet is not advisable Kid.

A few static displays at various motorcycle shows to fly the OSS banner including Donnington where my alter ego Rene took the old girl for a few laps of the track.

Many visits to RTR motorcycles for dyno runs, one off which was for the OSS dyno day where the bike made 300bhp.

So all in all a good year! Just think of the stress that engine has had doing all that, the only fault I got all year really was a leaky block so I’d say quite a reliable one.

Lets go out with a bang! I had that shit or bust attitude on.

It had been raining all Monday night making it look like the event would be cancelled, that gut wrenching feeling driving to the track in the rain for 2 hours thinking this ain’t gunna happen today. The rain stopped thankfully and after waiting a few hours to allow the track to dry we were given the all clear to attack the track.

The bike is, as a few of you know, made for wheelies, this means a short 55″ wheel base and big horsepower, not an ideal combo for Land Speed Racing.

Time to do the job. I was waved off by the starting Marshall after sat staring down a 3km runway. Short shifting 1st, 2nd, 3rd into 4th with a little wheel spin as the track was cold and still damp, into top gear and the bike is now naturally wanting to wheelie up in the air, feathering the throttle on and off to try keep the front wheel planted was an impossible task.

I felt gravity some what take over just shy of the line and I managed to pin the the throttle open all tucked in with my chin on the tank as I had no fairing to hide behind.

Made it. Still alive. Slowly throttle off as not to upset the bike, heart beating, did it do 200?? That drive back to the pits and the timing office seems to take forever.

203.8mph! On an unfaired 30 year old motorcycle with a well and truly abused engine.

Thank you to all involved over the past year for parts, advise and food.